1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an imaging device and a method for controlling the imaging device.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the past, imaging devices have been known, such as one that processes a captured image in which an object is imaged to recognize a human face in the captured image and automatically focuses on the recognized human face. Additionally, an imaging device that follows a particular face recognized in the captured image has also been known.
Meanwhile, Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2009-004873 discloses a camera controlling system capable of capturing an image of a whole group constituted by a plurality of objects being close to each other, or capturing an image of a combination of only the objects within the group. In Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2009-004873, the aforementioned face recognition technology can be applied as a technique to identify the object.
When a group is constituted by a plurality of persons included in a captured image as objects, it is considered that a certain relationship is present among the plurality of persons included in the group. The technique described in Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2009-004873 forms a group based on a distance between the objects obtained from the sizes of the objects.
However, there has been a problem in that the distance between the objects does not serve as an adequate factor for determining whether a certain relationship is present between the respective objects. For example, in a case where two persons being extremely close to each other are back to back each other, it is considered to be difficult to determine, from an image thereof, that a certain relationship is present between these two persons.